


scoop (the twenty thousand twitter followers remix)

by marmolita



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen, Interviews, M/M, POV Outsider, Post-Canon, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-09 04:16:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20493593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marmolita/pseuds/marmolita
Summary: Angela Cohen has been professionally covering figure skating for just six months, but she's been obsessed with it her whole life.  And now here she is, with a press pass hanging around her neck at the Japanese Nationals, waiting for a chance to interview the comeback kid, Yuuri Katsuki.





	scoop (the twenty thousand twitter followers remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dance_across](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dance_across/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Skin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11135136) by [dance_across](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dance_across/pseuds/dance_across). 

> It's remix time!! When I read [Skin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11135136) I knew immediately what I had to do. Hope you enjoy!

Angela Cohen has been professionally covering figure skating for just six months, but she's been obsessed with it her whole life. Her own talent was never enough to get her past the local competitions in Southern California, but that never bothered her -- not as long as she could keep watching, keep feeling the highs and lows of seeing her favorites compete, keep blogging and tweeting and  _ talking _ about it. And while she might not have been talented at skating, she was talented at writing.

A journalism degree was a given, though her parents fussed about how newspapers were dying and  _ sports writing isn't a steady career, honey, you're so good at math, why don't you major in electrical engineering? _ But they'd paid for it all the same, them and a reasonable volume of student loans. It wasn't the degree that got her the job with the LA Times, though -- no, that was her twenty thousand followers on Twitter who have been loyally retweeting and liking all of her tweets about skating for years. And now here she is, with a press pass hanging around her neck at the Japanese Nationals, waiting for a chance to interview the comeback kid, Yuuri Katsuki.

This is her first time as the lead reporter instead of just a backup, which is probably why her schedule has her at the overseas nationals instead of the American or Canadian competitions, but she doesn't care because she's about to meet  _ Yuuri Katsuki _ and  _ talk _ to him, after the amazing season he's had so far. And after that scorchingly hot short program and beautiful free skate that probably put all the wrong kind of thoughts into her head, but hey, she's been crushing on figure skaters since she was twelve, so it's not like that's anything new. They've got a small room set aside for press interviews right behind the kiss and cry, and Angela waits impatiently for Katsuki to come out so she can get him in a private interview. When his coach Nikiforov is with him, it's always hard for the press to talk to Katsuki directly, but this time Nikiforov is still in Russia for the Russian Nationals and Angela's hoping she can get an exclusive.

When he emerges, Katsuki has pulled on a sweatshirt and warmups on over his costume and is clutching a bottle of water, a little bit of sweat still drying on his temples. He gives her a polite smile, and Angela tries not to freak out. Instead, she bows to him and introduces herself -- in Japanese, which she's been studying but is far from fluent in -- before asking him to join her in the interview room. Luckily, her Japanese is good enough for him to understand and agree. "Is it alright if I interview you in English?" she asks as they sit down across the table from each other. "I understand you lived in Detroit for a while."

"Yes, of course," Katsuki replies, smiling a little more widely. "I lived there for several years. There was a really good pizza place near the university, that's probably what I miss the most."

Angela has never been to Detroit, but she's sure as hell going to look up what Katsuki's favorite pizza place was as soon as she gets home. "Well next time you're in the U.S. I'm sure your fans on Twitter would be happy to recommend you some good places to try," she says, taking a note in her notebook. "Do you mind if I record our interview so I can refer back to it when I write my article? The audio won't be released anywhere."

When Katsuki gives his consent, she sets her recorder on the table between them and switches it on. "Great, thanks. Well you've just had a spectacular performance here at the Japanese Nationals -- let me be the first to congratulate you on your amazing free skate score." Katsuki blushes a little, which is so freaking  _ cute _ that Angela makes a note of it in her notebook. "I saw that the music for your free program is named for you -- can you tell me a little bit about where it came from and how you ended up with that program?"

Katsuki tells her, at first in a reserved tone she recognizes as  _ I've said this to a hundred reporters already this year _ , but then, as she digs deeper, he starts to open up and she sees flashes of the young man who yelled about love into a microphone at a press conference a few months ago. His story really is remarkable. After his crushing defeat and failure to even qualify only a year ago, the fact that he's currently a leading contender for the World Championships is nothing short of amazing. But that story's been told already, and while she has to cover some of it, Angela knows she needs a different angle if she wants to step up her career. Since she got her start in social media, she knows the fans really well, and she knows what they really want to know about, which is the way that Katsuki's comeback is intimately tied to Victor Nikiforov becoming his coach.

"Tell me about your costumes," she says, when they've covered the technical elements of his programs and his training routine. "The one from your free skate was amazing, but if I'm not wrong, the one you wore in the short program is modeled after one of Victor Nikiforov's costumes, isn't it?"

Katsuki goes red, and Angela keeps her pen poised over her notebook, her instincts telling her she's hit something hot here. "Ahh, actually, it  _ is _ Victor's old costume. I debuted the program in my hometown of Hasetsu, and it was on short notice. Victor had his old costumes with him and there was no time to have anything made, so…"

"So you borrowed one of his? I'm surprised that it happened to fit," Angela says, trying to stay professional and not let it show that she -- and everyone in the Twitterverse -- thinks the clingy fabric of Nikiforov's old costume makes Katsuki look good enough to eat. And that they've all been wondering if Nikiforov is peeling him out of it after the competition is over.

"Yes, well, Yurio-- ah, Yuri Plisetsky, he's been using one of Victor's costumes from his earlier junior years too. Victor's not that much taller than me, and this is an older costume from his last junior worlds, so I guess it fits okay. Doesn't it?"

"Oh yes, it looks amazing," Angela says. "He choreographed the program for you as well, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Did he select the costume, or did you?"

Katsuki is blushing again, but he also seems really interested in talking about Nikiforov, his coach-turned-lover. She's not tabloid enough to ask about their romantic relationship, but that doesn't mean that she can't be curious and dance around the edges of it. "I did," Katsuki says. "Victor said he'd chosen that one because he had long hair and wanted to look androgynous. I thought it was a good fit for Eros, because…" Katsuki trails off, looking sheepish.

"Because?" she prompts.

"Because of the story behind the program. About a playboy and the most beautiful woman in town. Like it could be either."

There could be a lot to unpack there, but Angela's job is reporting on sports, not on gender identity, and she's only a step away from asking one question too many and having him shut down on her. So instead of following up on that, she asks, "Do you have plans to have a new costume commissioned?"

Katsuki looks surprised, his eyes wide and guileless. "What? No, I never even thought about it."

"Why not?"

"Wearing Victor's costume…" Katsuki smiles, a little distantly, like he's thinking of something private and sweet. "It's an integral part of the program. When I started wearing it, Victor had just become my coach, and it made me feel closer to him. It felt like a fantasy come to life, to wear a piece of Victor. When I skate that program it's like I'm living for three minutes inside Victor's skin."

Well, that line is  _ definitely _ going in the article. She's not sure if the sentiment is cute or creepy but that'll be for the readers to decide. Angela grins at him and says, "You've admired Victor Nikiforov for a long time, then, before he became your coach, is that right? I've seen the video of you skating one of his programs."

Katsuki, whose expression had turned wistful and tender when he was talking about living inside Nikiforov's skin, goes beet red. "Oh, ah, yes, well. He's, um, the reason I started skating, because I wanted to-- to be like him."

Somehow, she thinks Katsuki didn't just want to  _ be like _ Nikiforov. But again, she reminds herself, professional sports writer, not tabloid columnist. "Are you planning to wear his costume to compete against him in the World this year?" Technically, there are still a few free skates to go in the Japanese Nationals so Katsuki doesn't have it in the bag yet, but with the scores he just put out there's no way that Minami's going to overtake him even if he skates a perfect program.

"Yes," Katsuki says, his eyes bright and a soft smile on his face. "I'm looking forward to it."

*

When the article goes to press, Angela tweets a link to it with the side-by-side photo comparison of Katsuki and Nikiforov. It gets shared widely, and comments pour in in the usual Twitter fashion:  _ yuuri looks so hot in that costume!!!, katsuki better quit mooning over nikiforov and beat his ass at worlds, nikiforov wore it better, 'wearing his skin' wtf even,  _ and a collection of gifs from  _ Silence of the Lambs _ .

Her boss loves it and promises her a trip to the Worlds if she can prearrange an interview with Katsuki and Nikiforov together, which is probably the most exciting email she's ever gotten in her life. (An actual trip to the _World Figure Skating Championships_?!) She doesn't know how she's going to manage to convince them to do it, but she's just gotten off a plane in Seoul for the South Korean Nationals when her phone pings with a direct message.

@v-nikiforov:  _ Yuuri and I enjoyed reading your article. Thanks for inspiring more of his fantasies to come to life. ;D _

Angela stares at the screen, then erupts into a fit of giggles. Score one for pro sports writing.


End file.
